Universal Darwinism  

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Universal Darwinism (also known as generalized Darwinism, universal selection theory, or Darwinian metaphysics) refers to a variety of approaches that extend the theory of Darwinism beyond its original domain of biological evolution on Earth. The idea is to formulate a generalized version of the mechanisms of variation, selection and heredity proposed by Charles Darwin, so that they can be applied to explain evolution in a wide variety of other domains, including psychology, economics, culture, medicine, computer science and physics.

Gene-based Darwinian extensions

Other Darwinian extensions

  • Quantum darwinism sees the emergence of classical states in physics as a natural selection of the most stable quantum properties
  • Cosmological natural selection hypothesizes that universes reproduce and are selected for having fundamental constants that maximize "fitness"
  • Complex adaptive systems models the dynamics of complex systems in part on the basis of the variation and selection of its components
  • Evolutionary computation is a Darwinian approach to the generation of adapted computer programs
  • Genetic algorithms, a subset of evolutionary computation, models variation by "genetic" operators (mutation and recombination)
  • Evolutionary robotics applies Darwinian algorithms to the design of autonomous robots
  • Artificial life uses Darwinian algorithms to let organism-like computer agents evolve in a software simulation
  • Evolutionary art uses variation and selection to produce works of art
  • Evolutionary music does the same for works of music
  • Clonal selection theory sees the creation of adapted antibodies in the immune system as a process of variation and selection
  • Neural Darwinism proposes that neurons and their synapses are selectively pruned during brain development
  • Evolutionary epistemology of theories assumes that scientific theories develop through variation and selection
  • Memetics is a theory of the variation, transmission, and selection of cultural items, such as ideas, fashions, and traditions
  • Dual inheritance theory a framework for cultural evolution developed largely independently of memetics
  • Cultural selection theory is a theory of cultural evolution related to memetics
  • Evolutionary economics studies the variation and selection of economic phenomena, such as commodities, technologies, institutions and organizations.<ref>Shiozawa, Y. 2004 Evolutionary Economics in the 21st Century: A Manifest, Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, 1(1): 5-47.</ref>
  • Evolutionary ethics investigates the origin of morality, and uses Darwinian foundations to formulate ethical values




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Universal Darwinism" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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